The Brave Ski Mom

Building a new generation of skiers and snowboarders.

Simple Gifts for Skiing Families

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braveskimom holiday gift guide 2017

braveskimom logo‘Tis the gift to be simple
‘Tis the gift to be free
‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be
And when we find ourselves in the place just right
It will be in the valley of love and delight

          ~Traditional Shaker Hymn

Life can be complicated and busy, especially as we near the holidays.

So this year, I’m focusing on simple, traditional, fun and useful gifts that will make the both the receiver and the giver feel good.

Books

Is there any gift more fundamental than a good book?

We’ve got eight recommendations, four for kids and four for adults. Read our reviews of these Best Books About Skiing for Kids and Best Books About Skiing for Adults, here. 

The Night Before the Snow Day, Natasha Wing, Paperback, $4.54

Squirrels on Skis, an “I Can Read It All By Myself” book, J. Hamilton Ray, Hardcover, $8.19

Curious George in the Snow, in the style of H.A. Rey and Margaret Rey, Hardcover, $6.99

Ollie’s Ski Trip, Elsa Beskow, Hardcover, $8.45

books about skiing for kids

Freedom Found: My Life Story, Warren Miller, Hardcover, $20.36

Ski, Inc., Chris Diamond, Kindle, $9.99

Shut Up and Ski, Edie Thys Morgan, Paperback, $14.95

Unbound: A Story of Snow and Self-Discovery, Steph Jagger, Hardcover, $14.84

books about skiing for adults

Toys

Because nothing is more fun than something the kids can play with immediately.

Lego Friends Snow Resort Kits: Ski Lift, Chalet, Ice Rink and Off-Roader

I included the Lego Friends Snow Resort Ski Lift ($57.99) in a post this fall and overall, the reception on social media was positive. I mean, seriously, who doesn’t want to build a Lego chairlift?

The Ski Lift is one of just four kits available in the U.S. (the U.K. sets include a Hot Chocolate Van).

The other U.S. Lego Friends Snow Resort Kits are the Snow Resort Chalet, ($38.77),  Snow Resort Ice Rink ($28.47)and the Snow Resort Off-Roader, ($14.54).

In addition, this year’s Lego Friends Advent Calendar is also snow-themed. 

Lego snow resort building kits
Lego Friends Snow Resort Building Kits.

The Lego Friends line of building kits is definitely geared toward girls. Each of the kits comes with Lego Friends characters, but only the ice rink comes with a male figure.

I know this is disappointing for boys and I’ve reached out to Lego suggesting they produce a gender neutral chairlift kit. I urge you to do the same.

Just for fun, check out this short video Lego released in late October.

While I was disappointed to see that the ski mom wasn’t wearing a helmet, the five tips aren’t bad and the animation is cute. 

Playmobil Alpine Cable Car Playset

Here is the answer for boys (and girls) who yearn to build a chairlift, or in this case, a gondola in the living room. The Playmobil Alpine Cable Car Playset has 80 pieces and is totally gender neutral. It can be hard to find, except from third-party sellers. I found a set this fall at Scholar’s Choice, a Canadian homeschooling retailer. It was a fair price. Otherwise, your best bet is probably checking Amazon.com (prices vary).

playmobil-alpine-cable-car-gondola-playset

In addition to the gondola set (which comes with nearly 80 inches (200 cm) of cable for the cable car!), you may be able to track down additional alpine themed Playmobil, including the Alpine Lodge Playset and the Alpine Festival Procession Playset.

Another kit that is fun for outdoor families is the Backpacker Family at Mountain Springs Playset, $23.95.

Puzzles

Among the simple pleasures of life, puzzles rank high.

Last year, we featured ski-themed puzzles from Liberty Puzzles. Hand-crafted wooden gems, these puzzles are gorgeous and expensive. 

This year, we’re featuring two 1000-piece puzzles from White Mountain Puzzles, both priced at less than $20.

white-mountain-puzzles-ski-posters-puzzle
The ski posters puzzle from White Mountain Puzzles.

White Mountain Puzzles Ski Posters, $18.25

White Mountain Puzzles Ski Badges, $16.99

Mittens

Think of good mittens as an investment in happiness.

Last winter, Oyuki sent me samples of their top-of-the-line mitts for toddlers, kids and women. I shared these with friends.  You can read their glowing reviews of the Bado, Rippa and Chika mitts, here. 

oyuki mitts for women, children and toddlers
The Bado Toddler Mitt, the Chika Women’s Mitt and the Rippa Kids’ Mitt from Oyuki.

The Bado Mitt for Toddlers: Smart design, easy to put on and take off.  Available in sizes 2, 4 and 6, in black, blue or raspberry, $35.00. 

The Rippa Mitt for Kids: Warm and not bulky, these mitts made our tester happy because they made it easy to grip her poles. Available in sizes 6, 8, 10 and 12, in black, navy or oxblood (burgundy), $88.00.

The Chika Mitt for Women: This is a high-performance, full-leather mitten with Gore-Tex lining, Primaloft insulation, a fitted neoprene cuff and wrist loops. It’s a serious mitt for women who seriously want their hands to stay warm. Available in sizes XS – L, in black and white, $135.00.

Oyuki is based in Niseko, Japan. If you’ve got a few minutes, watch this amazing video of their sponsored athletes ripping the amazing Japanese terrain and powder. Inspiring!

Bags

Our choices are bags to help you eliminate plastic and paper waste from your life and bags that will make your ski days easier.

Help the Planet with Zoetica

Colorado-based Zoetica offers individual items and curated kits to help us kick the convenience waste habit.

The Bag of Bags (4), $79.00

A small attractive pouch or cross-body purse preloaded with unbleached cotton produce bags and lightweight, high-volume shopping bags.

Zoetica estimates that using a grocery kit can eliminate up to 20 single use plastic bags with every grocery run. We’ve used these bags everywhere and not just for groceries. They are attractive enough to take to the toniest boutique.

zoetica bag of bags and wayfarer kits
The Wayfarer Travel Kit and Bag of Bags (4) Shopping Kit. Designed by Zoetica to help you easily eliminate plastic and paper convenience trash from your life.

The Wayfarer, $99.00

A travel kit for people on the move. It is TSA compliant and includes food containers, utensils, a straw, a napkin, several bags and a cup. Keep it handy in your car, or in your carry-on, and substitute long-lasting reusable utensils and containers for throw-away plastic and paper.

Simplify with a Multi-Sport Lightweight Backpack from Kulkea

Ready to stop over-gearing and packing for every possible contingency? Check out Kulkea’s Micro Pack, a low-profile super lightweight ski backpack. It’s well-designed to carry just the essentials. (Read our full review of the Kulkea Micro Pack here.)

kulkea micro pack
Everything I want to put into the 17.5”H x 8.75”W x 3”D Kulkea Micro Pack. And, it all fits. 

Made for action, it’s got room for snacks and water bottles. Use it to carry lunch or stash an extra layer. Only 3″ deep, it’s unlikely to protrude on the lift or throw you off-balance on the snow. Use it skiing, hiking or biking. It’s a multi-sport, multi-tasking wonder. $99.95

Transpack Ski and Boot Bags 

Make your life easy by giving every member of the family their own ski boot and gear bag.

Our family favorite pack is the Transpack TRV Pro, $139.95. We love this pack because we can stuff it full with all of our ski clothes, boots, helmets, mittens and more for travel. Other options from Transpack include theEdge Junior ski boot backpacks for younger kids, XT1 and XTW for larger kids and adults and the Heated Boot Pro and Heated Boot Pro XL. 

transpack-ski-boot-backpacks
Some new fabrics for this winter from Transpack. From left to right, the Transpack XTW for women, the Edge Junior for small kids and the XT1 for men.

(Read my recent review of Transpack ski boot back packs and other products including the Ski Bat, shown below). 

the-ski-bat-helps-kids-carry-skis
Henry and Norah carry their skis and poles with the Ski Bat. Their mom thinks this simple pair of clips could be “a game changer.”

Stocking Stuffer Alert! The Ski Bat

My friend Sarah calls the Ski Bat a “game changer.” It’s a nifty one-piece device that clips over junior skis in front of the bindings and behind the bindings, holding them securely together. Snap your child’s skis poles into the Ski Bat horizontally and presto! The Ski Bat is a quick and easy way to carry skis from the car to the base area. 

Bonus: Our Favorite DIY Christmas Ornaments

Display your family’s passion for skiing and turn your old ski passes and RFID tickets into Christmas ornaments. All you need are old passes, a hole punch and ribbon. 

And, yes, a Christmas Tree!

ski pass christmas ornaments
Looking for a fun way to put old ski passes to work? Christmas tree ornaments.

Enjoy.

And Happy Holidays to each of you, my friends.

Brave Ski Mom Holiday Gift Guide Archive

More Holiday Gift Ideas from My Favorite Outdoor Families

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. I love your blog, and all the ideas! What great Christmas ideas! I want the Lego’s for my Grandkids!

  4. Love these ideas, will definitely be using some of them for gifts.. and cute idea for using old ski passes, rounding our all up tonight..

  6. This is such a fun list. My 8 year old is on a ski team and my 6 year old just joined this year too. This is a great list. We are hoping that in the next few years all the kids will be skiing. 🙂

    • You will Love Zoetica. I’m using the bag of bags all the time and recently traveled by air substituting as many throwaway items as I could with the Wayfarer kit. It all comes in so handy and looks fab!

  9. Such great simple ideas for making skiing with young kids easier. Year 2 on 2 planks for our littles this year. Learning as we go and blogs like this are so helpful.

  12. These are great ideas. I struggle with coming up with what to give people every year so I’m so happy I came across this post!

  13. So many great gift ideas. My kids would love the Legos and I just learned about the book, “Squirrels on Skis”. Thanks again for your fun post!!

  17. Such fantastic ideas! Thank you so much for sharing. Might have to buy the lego sets and put them away until the little is old enough!

  25. We might well end up going with the nicer gloves for our toddler this year. She keeps complaining about cold fingers with our current cheap-o pair.

  30. Oooo! Those mittens look nice and warm. I think you just helped me find one of my wife’s presents this year. Thanks!

  31. love the ideas. this is the perfect list for my daughter since she gets to go on a ski/snowmobile trip each year

  32. Love the ideas will deffinitely be using some of these for the ones I’m unsure what to gift them.

  36. These are great items and I live the 100 piece puzzles, those take some time, it’s fun to complete with family.

  42. Great gift guide! It’s so hard to find gifts for some of my family but I think you might have helped inspire me! Thanks!

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